126 National Geographic Magazine. 



in the eager strife to improve his condition above others less 

 fortunately situated ; seeking advantage in the peculiarities of 

 his environment to open new channels of trade that will divert 

 the profits from the older routes. 



Of many schemes suggested in furtherance of such ends, there 

 are few that develoj:) into I'ealities within a generation. Nature 

 may be against them when the facts are fully learned, the profit 

 may not warrant the outlay, and political considerations may keep 

 in abeyance that which otherwise may be admitted to be good. 

 Thus the grand scheme to make an inland sea of the Desert of 

 Sahara is impossible of execution from the fact that the desert is 

 many hundreds of feet higher than the ocean. The long talked 

 of project to cut the Isthmus of Corinth, now accomplished, was 

 a theme of discussion for twenty centuries or more. And the 

 later project to tunnel the English Channel we have seen defeated 

 through the fears of a few timid men. Perchance the grander 

 one, now introduced with some seriousness, to bridge the channel, 

 may meet with a better fate. 



The route for the ship canal to connect the Baltic and the 

 North Seas, is reported to have been determined upon and the' 

 preliminary work of construction to have been commenced. And 

 we learn that a proposition is being discussed to connect the 

 Danube with the Baltic Sea by way of the Vistula. However 

 chimerical such a project may seem to us, we cannot at this time 

 discredit those who believe in it. It shows that restless spirit 

 that predominates the age, striving for the mastery of the com- 

 mercial world. Politically, Europe has seen no geographical 

 change, but those conversant with affairs apprehend a military 

 catastrophe at no distant date, that will probably embroil the 

 stronger nations and endanger the existence of the weaker ones. 



Having practically acquired a knowledge of their territories, 

 the people of these nations are diligently seeking to develop 

 greater things in the study of all the earth, and we have thus 

 seen formed as a means to this end, what is now known as the 

 International Geodetic Association. The primary object of this 

 Association is to determine the form of the earth. It is an inquiry 

 of absorbing interest, and the geodetic work in America must 

 eventually contribute an important factor in its solution. We 

 may therefore hope that the bill now before the Congress author- 

 izing the United States to have representation in the Association, 

 will become a law. The free interchange between the continents 



